Your budget is one simple sum: monthly income, less fixed costs, less your spending budget, equals your savings target. The Income & savings tab on Budgets shows the parts you control.
Your monthly income
Income comes from transactions filed under an income category, like your pay. We look at your last three complete months with income; the month in progress is left out, because a few days of pay would make it look like a lean month.
You choose which figure the budget is built on:
Choice | When it fits |
|---|---|
Lowest month (recommended) | The smallest of those months. A good month becomes extra savings rather than a rescue. |
Average month | Fine when your pay is steady; optimistic when it swings. |
A number of my own | Take-home pay that isn't in your transactions yet, or the figure you'd rather plan on. |
Change your income
Open Income & savings
On Budgets, choose the Income & savings tab.
Choose Change
On the Monthly income card, choose Change.
Pick a figure
Choose Lowest month, Average month or A number of my own.
Choose which money counts
Under Which money counts as income, tick or untick transactions, month by month. Leave out one-offs like refunds or a gift.
Save
The bottom shows how your savings target changes. Choose Save.
Missing some income? File it under Income on the Transactions page and it shows up in the list. Money that comes in without a category isn't counted as income until you categorize it.
Your savings target
Your savings target is what's left after fixed costs, the buffer and your spending budget. You don't type it: change the split and it follows.
Choose Change split
On the Savings target card, choose Change split. (Change amount on the Spending tab opens the same thing.)
Slide to choose
Slide to choose how much of what's left after fixed costs you spend; the rest is your savings target. Quick picks offer what you usually spend, or half and half.
Save
Choose Save.
Your spending budget can't go below what your category budgets and groups already claim. If you have savings goals, they set aside their money out of this target, and anything left is saved on top.
Tracking the month
The Monthly income card shows how much has come in so far against the figure you plan on. The Overview tab shows the same as Came in, beside Fixed costs paid and your Savings target. For a past month, it shows what you Kept.